Full of Grace

SO! Last night I finally caught up with the times and caught the fashion flick of... well... last year? I dont know, any ways the point is, last week I was working with my old boss, Polina Aronova on Elle, when the topic of "The September Issue" came up and I mentioned I still hadn't seen it. She promptly gave me the side eye, you know the one, like, 'seriously?' Her instructions were, don't rent it, buy it, this is a movie you should own (I'm paraphrasing). And I gotta give to Po, she was right. In case you weren't perusing around New York when the city was inundated with posters of Anna Wintour sitting front row at a fashion show in her famous blacked out shades, "The September Issue" is a movie about the making of the September issue of American Vogue.

It wasn't quite what I expected to be honestly, which is, I think what makes it so great. Truthfully I think the only way it stood a chance of being what I expected was if Anna Wintour said nothing the entire time, and just sat there throwing out evil looks, promptly sending designers into fits of tears. But actually it was quite a nice surprise. I like that they've given a glimpse into Anna Wintour's world, and showed that she is infact human, and beneath that icy exterior lies a vulnerable, loving (atleast with her daughter) woman. I found it pretty revealing when she mentioned that all of her siblings work in jobs that involve humanitarian or political issues and the plight of the underprivledged, and remarked that she thinks her siblings find what she does to be "amusing". Even if your Anna Wintour I guess you never escape that sibling comparison thing.

 Grace Coddington (L) and Karen Elson as Grace Coddington

The real star of this movie for me though, wasn't Wintour at all, it was the unsinkable Grace Coddington. With that firey mane of wild hair, and walking around in all black, protesting the editing of her stories and (GASP) dressing her own models, they show in this film that Grace is definitely a force, and to me was just as much of a force as Wintour. I love that she is older than most of today's eitors, but still just as passionate about her work as ever and is showing all of us spring chicken's the way its done. She just has a real hutzpa about her and sticks to her convictions even in the face of nay sayers, Wintour included. I found her to be quite inspirational, I think I may be DEEP into a one sided love affair. Something about her reminds me of a Sonia Rykiel or Patricia Field, perhaps its something about that firey hair and matching personality.

So all in all I thought this was a really great movie, definitely one to watch, if not own, especially if you're a fashion lover or employee, which, if you're reading this blog I can safely assume you belong to one of those two categories. My advice is run, don't walk...
Now- if I could just convince my mom to stop trying to throw out all my old Vogue's.








Photo of Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington, and Virginia Smith c/o Zimbio
Photo of Grace Coddington c/o Zimbio
Photo of Karen Elson as Grace Coddington c/o Fashionologie